Rain day.....

 6:19 am - Sunday - May 7th - LPG&RVR - 34° F, 80% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south.....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 54° F.  The weather outlook for the next 10 days is most encouraging.....↴

.....on this date in 2018 TLE and I were visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.....I wrote about that here......↴

Once again, Saturday, we awoke to heavily overcast skies and rain, and bitter cold conditions.  I delivered TLE to the Clubhouse office around 7:50 am, drove back down to the entrance to flip the sign from pointing to the 'Night Office' to pointing up the hill to the Clubhouse for RV registration, picked up any overnight registrations, and headed back to the Clubhouse to have a cup of coffee with the guys.  I had exhausted the rainy day stuff I can do on Friday, so after designating to TLE which golf carts were parked at the front of each row in the covered shelter (in case any crazy people wanted to play golf in the rain) I headed home, changed clothes, and watched some English Premier Soccer.

Amazingly, I got a call from TLE around 11 am that she had sent out all the golf carts for which I had given her numbers, so I got dressed, headed back to the Clubhouse, gave her some more cart numbers, then around 11:10 am decided to stay and let TLE take an early lunch break.  She was back around 12:15 pm, and I was back at home once again where I changed clothes once again, and settled in to watch some of the PGA Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina.  In all we sent out EIGHT golf carts Saturday, and it rained most of the time they were being used.  Personally, I am a fair weather golfer....lol.

By 3 pm TLE was calling again advising that 4 of the carts had been returned, so I headed back to clean them, and put them away.  Coincidentally, the latest putting contest was due to begin at 4 pm, so I stayed to participate.  I actually lasted three rounds this time, and sank a lot of 2nd putts from distance, which made me happy.  I did much better with zero practice this week.  The contest was delayed about 15 minutes in the second round when we got hit with a brief hail storm.  It sprinkled on and off the rest of the hour.

By the time I went out in the 3rd round the rest of the golf carts had been returned, so I took care of them, and put them away.  TLE and I were home by 5:15 pm, grateful for the warm interior of our Newell.  The rain came, and went for a few hours, and it was raining again when we went to bed at 10 pm....a nice way to end another LPG&RVR day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nature calls.....

6:25 am - Saturday - May 6th - LPG&RVR - 38° F, 85% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the south by southeast.....heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 46° F plus rain for most of the day.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to work traffic control for the 'Indy 500'.....↴

I delivered TLE to the Clubhouse office around 7:50 am, and it was already sprinkling....not raining, just sprinkling.  The forecast was for rain on and off all day, so I was pretty sure I would not be doing to much outdoor work, which is all there is for me to do.  One thing which did need doing, rain or shine, was to take care of the three golf carts which were turned in after 5 pm Thursday, and that took me only 10 minutes to give them a brief wash down (they were already wet), and put them away.

I thought that was going to be the highlight of my day until I entered the Clubhouse.  We do, however,  have a nature trail here at LPG&RVR which needs periodic maintenance, and along that 1+ mile path there are 9 viewing stations, which are numbered.  For those who wish to hike the trail we provide a pamphlet with a map of the trail showing the various viewing points, and what can be seen at each.....

.....Dennis, my boss, gave me a large stapler and a pack of 9 numbers to take out to the nature trail to refresh the numbers on the 9 posts around the nature trail.  As I drove by the driving range to reach the trailhead of the nature trail I thought "It will never be that green again this summer", and it is as green as I have ever seen it right now.....

....the trail is pretty easy to follow, and plainly marked....

.....each of the posts designating each viewing site are right along the trail, and easy to find....

....there is no way to drive the golf cart down this trail, so I headed off to find each post hoping it would not rain while I was on the trail.  As luck would have it I only got sprinkled upon over the course of the 90 minutes was refreshing the numbers.  My favorite view site was #7 - Jose's Point......

....I managed to finish just before it began to rain in earnest....again timing is everything...lol.

Once that task was completed I was done, mostly, for the day, so I returned the large stapler to the Clubhouse office, and told TLE I would be back at noon for her lunch break, then headed home to change clothes, and get warm.  During TLE's lunch break 3 hardy souls entered the Clubhouse asking to play golf...it was still in the low 40's, and not my kind of golf weather, but they are only here for a couple more days, and came to play golf, so there you go.

In all I sent out three golf carts during TLE's lunch break.  I headed back home around 1 pm after TLE's break, changed clothes again knowing I would have to get dressed again around 4:15 pm to head back to the Clubhouse to clean those three carts, and pick up TLE from work.  It rained on and off all afternoon, sometimes hard, and I'm pretty sure the temp never reached the forecast high of 49° F.

Thanks for stopping by!

The simple made difficult.....

6:31 am - Friday - May 5th - LPG&RVR - 39° F, 88% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the west.....heavy cloud cover with rain today, and a forecast high of 49° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were staying at the Elks Lodge in Lockport, NY, just across the street from the Erie Canal....we walked into town along the canal to find a place to have a late lunch, and found it......↴

We awoke Thursday to a smattering of rain, heavy cloud cover, and bitter cold conditions, none of which were conducive to outdoor activity.  According to the weather report there would be more rain later in the day, and the contents of our black tank really needed to be disgorged before that rain came.  Nothing too much more unpleasant than dumping your black tank in the rain, except maybe in the snow.  The sun came out briefly around 10:30 am, so I seized upon the moment, and did the deed.  Within minutes after I finished the sun disappeared once again, and the wind picked up....time to be inside the warm, cozy confines of the Newell Salon!

I had barely sat down when the UPS driver pulled up to deliver a package containing a new DirecTV universal remote.  The one which came with our 'new' DVR back in October of 2019 was worn out, and many of the number buttons no longer worked.  I got the OEM replacement off Amazon (in fact I got 2 for the price of 1) for about $25.  The remote I prefer offers two options to communicate with the TV (TCL 32" flat screen in this case)......IR (infrared), or RF (radio frequency).  I prefer the RF as I can use it while outside watching our outdoor TV (also TCL) to change the channel.  Since no line of sight is required, the radio frequency option enables one to change the channel from quite a distance away, and even through the aluminum siding of the Newell.

At any rate, the new remote would not initially communicate with our DVR, which puzzled me, but then I remembered I had programmed the DVR for the RF option, and the new remote comes in the IR mode, so I had to use the old remote to reprogram the DVR to recognize the IR signal, then I was able to use the new remote to access the onscreen DVR menu to change both the DVR and new remote to RF mode.  Once that was done I set about to setup the new remote to control the TV (volume, mute, etc.).....after taking a picture of the manufacturer's label.....

....to extract the Model number....32s301...I ran into a roadblock.  

The DirecTV DVR did not list our model #, and could not find a code in its system for our TCL TV.  Finally I called DirecTV to get help from them, but after 30 minutes we were still unsuccessful, so the guy I was dealing with said he would escalate my problem up the chain of command to see if there was another solution, and then call me back with 1-2 hours.  As I hung up the phone I was pretty sure I would never hear back from him, and it turned out I never did.....lol!

After an hour, or so I began to work on a solution again, by myself.  I went on the internet to look up the various 5 digit codes for TLC Roku TV's and found there were only TWO.  I copied them down, then went back into the DVR menu to manually enter the code, and what do you know?  The first code I entered worked!  Unfortunately, the 3 hours I spent on this seemingly simple 5 minute task are gone forever, but I do have a remote that works for both the DVR and TCL TV, so I do have that going for me....lol.

The rest of the afternoon is kind of a blur, but around 4 pm TLE and I drove our golf cart over to the Clubhouse for our annual, beginning of the season staff meeting.  There are only 8 of us, and I am always amazed at how much the 8 of us get done each week.  We were back home before 5 pm.  I love, brief, to the point office meetings!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carpe diem.....

 7:50 am - Thursday - May 4th - LPG&RVR - 40° F, 81% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the northwest.....heavy cloud cover today with rain in the afternoon, and a forecast high of 56° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE I were visiting Niagra Falls......↴

The last time I had a haircut was just before our trip to Georgia to visit my son (Tim) and his family.  I think that was the very end of March (March 22nd to be exact).  Needless to say, or maybe it is not so needless, I needed a haircut in the worst kind of way.  I had called Sheila at Kaleidoscope in Alturas about 10 days ago for an appointment that week, but the earliest she could get me in was May 3rd.  I know she is a busy lady, and I should have called before we left GNHS...."coulda, shoulda, woulda" as 'they' say.   We hadn't been shopping for about 9 days, plus the next 90 day installment of my prescription meds were ready for pickup at the local Rite Aid, so there were at least three reasons Wednesday to head into Alturas.

We left around 10:15 am to make the 20+ minute drive into Alturas stopping first, as we almost always do, at the Ace Hardware to pick up some rope for a future project, then on to Rite Aid for the aforementioned meds. Usually I'm able to get a mid morning haircut appointment, but the earliest available time slot on this day had been 12:30 pm, so we had time to kill. Next up was a stop at Grocery Outlet....TLE likes to get some things there which are less expensive than Holiday Market.  Then we arrived at Holiday Market....it was only a little after 11 am at this point, so we still had close to 90 minutes to go before our hair appointments.

Usually we spend at least an hour at Holiday, but TLE was really organized, and we were in and out in less than 30 minutes.....still one hour until our hair appointments.  What to do?  We decided to visit, if it was open, one of the numerous thrift stores in town, which we had not visited last season....Big Savers Thrift Store and Antiques.  From the street it appeared to be just a small 'hole in the wall' place, but upon entry we found out how wrong we had been....it was ginormous!  Within minutes TLE and I had separated, going our own ways to see things which interested each of us.  I wish I had taken a picture to better convey the shear volume, and size of the interior of this place.  Ultimately, I did not find anything without which I could not live, but TLE found two things....a cut glass candy bowl (our old one was broken recently), and a Marcasite (polished pyrite) ring.  She has a collection of Marcasite earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and rings acquired over many years.  She showed me the ring, and I had to agree it was beautiful, so I bought it for her.....

  

....I don't buy a lot of jewelry for TLE, but when you know there is something she likes, and wants, and you're right there, why not seize the moment?

By the time we finished paying for the things TLE wanted it was 12:15 pm, and time to head to Kaleidoscope to keep our hair appointments....yes, even TLE on this day had her hair trimmed.  My last haircut cost me $35 at the Supercuts in La Quinta, and both of our cuts at Kaleidoscope cost a total of $40....nothing like rural America!

It was a tad after 1 pm when we arrived at Rubio's Taqueria for our first street taco fix this year.  Arriving after 1 pm meant we missed the lunchtime rush, and also meant we had our orders within 10 minutes.  We headed over to the local park where there are picnic tables to consume our street tacos, and enjoy the delightfully sunny afternoon....

.....so nice to sit in the sun after so much rain, cloudiness, and just generally cold conditions the past few days.  I have to add, though, that without the sun it would probably have been too chilly to eat outside....timing is everything.

We were home a little after 2 pm...while TLE put away our groceries I settled in for a post lunch nap....nothing like a good nap after a great meal!

Thanks for stopping by!

Philosophically speaking.....

7:55 am - Wednesday - May 3rd - LPG&RVR - 41° F, humidity 79%, wind 4 mph out of the southwest.....heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 63° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were in Flagstaff, AZ with Glenn (brother-in-law) and Laureen (TLE's sister) having just escaped the Wittmann, AZ heat....the temp at time of arrival was 70° F......↴

1984 Newell Classic (35') & 1982 Newell Classic (36')

We didn't get up until after 8 am Tuesday, and by doing so, apparently, missed the snow.  By the time we opened the curtains there was no snow on the ground, but there was a lot of new snow on the local mountains, including Eagle Peak.  In just a few short days it has gone from early summer like conditions to late winter conditions here in lovely, oh so rural Modoc County.  At 8:10 am the outside temp was still in the mid 30's.  It may have gotten into the low 50's Tuesday, but you wouldn't be able to prove that by me.  It was just a cold, damp, wintery day in Likely, CA.

When I began typing my daily missive I noticed that Dennis and Ellen were getting ready to leave for Klamath Falls so I put on a coat, plus outdoor slippers and walked over to convey our 'until next times' before they left.  We'll look forward to connecting with them again down the road.

Recently I ordered 100' of new white light rope lights as the ones we've been using since 2019 had begun to give up the ghost having numerous 4-5' stretches with no lights.  I have to say that these LED rope lights were some of the best I have ever purchased.  How do I know?  Well, they survived a year on the Oregon Coast wrapped around a couple of pine trees.  Any kind of outdoor lighting that can survive 12 months of salty air on the Oregon Coast are some of the best in my book.  Many of our outdoor lights did not survive even a few weeks of that exposure....

....that, and the 1 mile walk TLE and I took later in the afternoon were the extent of my outdoor activity Tuesday (as I am writing it has begun to rain once again).

There is something about cold, winterlike weather viewed from the warm, dry, comfortable confines of your motorcoach.  Living in an aluminum RV keeps you close to nature.  You can see the trees swaying in the wind from every window, hear the gentle pitter pat of rain on the roof, and occasionally feel the RV rock and roll in the wind.  Nature is all around you, as it gently assaults your senses.  Meanwhile, you are comfortably ensconced inside your warm, dry home on wheels, grateful for this nomadic life you have chosen.

TLE and I were just talking about how we have been living in around 220 square feet for over 12 years now, and it never seems to get old.  Neither of us wish we had more space (the wind is beginning to flutter the window awnings as I write, and the rain is dripping off the awning fabric just outside my window), in fact, on the rare occasions when we stay in a hotel, or visit family we find ourselves feeling a bit uncomfortable in larger living spaces.  It's nice being 3 steps from the kitchen/refrigerator, 5 steps from the bathroom/shower, and 10 steps away from the bedroom.  

We have everything we need to make us happy, and comfortable, and none of the responsibilities of owning  and maintaining a sticks and bricks abode.  We don't pay any utilities (water, gas, electric, sewer), have no property taxes, mortgage/rent, interest payments, etc.  We will never have to re-shingle our roof, call a plumber, painter, or electrician.  We are able to, and have pretty much maintained our coach ourselves.  If we wish we can 'cut the cord' completely and boondock for months at a a time, which we did the winter of 2021/22.

There is something about knowing that wherever you may go (with the exceptions of flying somewhere on rare occasions, or staying in a hotel overnight when you have medical appointments) your bed, all your clothing , and every tool you might need will always be with you.  I hate having to make the hard choices which come with packing a suitcase, and I love that no matter the weather I always have all the necessary clothing options available, and that our amazingly comfortable bed will always be there when it is time to sleep.

It is days like Tuesday, and even today (Wednesday) that reinforce our love for the simple, nomadic life.....a life of very few possessions, or responsibilities.  A life which can be lived as far from the hectic life of urban, and even suburban America as is possible.  A life lived close to nature. A life free of freeways, traffic signals, traffic congestion, the intrusive noise levels of living in a densely populated area, as well as quickly spreading illnesses/diseases.  This lifestyle enables us to live in extremely RURAL America where life is far less complex (the rain has now stopped, and the sun is making a brief appearance).  A lifestyle which gives us the time to really know our neighbors, and to develop new friendships and relationships quite easily.

I know I've been a tad philosophical today, but I think that is necessary from time to time.  I know that many of my readers who follow my blog, and others like mine, do so to find out about this lifestyle.  There are so many forms that the nomadic life can take, and the life we share with you on a daily basis is just one of those options, however, the end goal is the same no matter how you construct your nomadic life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Connected....

 8:20 am - Tuesday - May 2nd - LPG&RVR - 36° F, humidity 83%, wind 4 mph out of the south.....heavy cloud cover today....rained all night....with a forecast high of 56° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were at Gettysburg.....↴

Little Round Top as viewed from the Confederate lines

....after spending about 5 hours touring around the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield we headed over to a local micro brewery for a late lunch.......↴

We knew we would have rain sometime Monday, probably in the afternoon.  I've been wanting to wash the exterior of the Newell and trailer with soap and water for months now, and to be frank, they were both way past due.  Normally I would defer any vehicle washing until after the rain, but they were both so dirty that any rain would have made them look even worse, so I decided to get them both washed before the rain hit.  Most of the time, unless it is torrential, the rain does not wash away the dirt, and grime. I have a blue bucket for just this purpose, and for soap I use Dawn....it really cuts dirt and grease!  

Just as I was finishing drying the windows on the Newell it began to sprinkle....talk about good timing!  That was about 11 am, and within 40 minutes the rain had stopped, but the coach and trailer looked beautiful....at least the passed the 20 foot test....lol.  That early rain was not expected as the main storm was not due until early evening

A few days ago I got a message on my blog from a blog reader, of course, who advised she and her husband, and their pets were going to be arriving at LPG&RVR this past Friday, and were looking forward to meeting us.  Of course we worked Thursday through Sunday this week, but I responded that we were looking forward to meeting them.  Initially I thought their last name was Tully since the name of her blog was Tully's Travels.  I asked TLE to look up the name in the office computer to see what site they were assigned, but she couldn't find the name, so I kind of forgot about it until Sunday morning.  I re-read the message and it definitely said they were arriving this past Friday, that her name was Ellen, and gave the name of their RV as a Beacon  (manufacturer) Vanleigh (Model).  As I was looking out the Salon window where my work station is located I saw a 5th wheel with that name upon it...doh!  They were here!

There is the Beacon!

Later Sunday when I saw the husband outside I stopped by to introduce myself.  Soon Ellen came outside and we began to talk.  Sometimes when you meet someone new there is this immediate connection, just like there was Sunday afternoon.  As I was still working I made plans for TLE and to meet them for lunch at their RV on Monday around noon.  Dennis and Ellen wanted to BBQ for us, so the date was set.  Oh, by the way, their dog is named Tully, and that is from whence the title to her blog derives (https://tullypetersonstravel.blogspot.com).

In our travels over the past 11+ years we have met, on occasion, folks with whom there is an immediate connection.  It is as if you have known each other for years, not minutes. This was one of those occasions.  We began to talk, and the conversation continued non-stop for over 5 hours.  As it turns out, Ellen began reading our blog when she and Dennis were contemplating the full time life, and has been a loyal reader ever since.....

....in spite of my proclivity to get lost in the conversation, and neglect to memorialize the occasion, I managed to get an 'usie' after dinner, which turned out rather nicely.  Dinner, by the bye, was amazing....slow cooked BBQ chicken with roasted vegetables, and a salad dressed with Bleu Cheese.

Around 5:30 pm we bid our adieus......they will be leaving for their next destination, Klamath Falls, Tuesday morning.  Their home state is Washington, and although they no longer own a home, still spend the summers there.  Safe travels to Dennis, Ellen and Tully (plus their two cats whose names do not come to mind at this time)....until we meet again!

Thanks for stopping by!

Turn down the volume....

 7:59 am  - Monday - May 1st - LPG&RVR - 45° F, humidity 68%, wind 4 mph out of the north by northwest.....very cloudy today with rain forecast for later today, and a forecast high of 62° F.  On this date in 2018 we were staying a few days at the Elks Lodge in Ashtabula, OH (1 hour east of Cleveland) right on the shores of Lake Erie.....↴

One of our favorite Elks Lodges ever

Often Sundays are a 'vacuum' day, but not so this Sunday.  In all we sent out 17 golf carts...almost as many as Saturday.  I spent the better part of the day 'marshaling' on the golf course, but everyone behaved themselves.  I spent some time leisurely visiting with returning customers who had become friends last season, and   In all it was a very laid back day, or as the 60's group, The Cyrkle, wrote in 1966.....A Turn Down Day.....

....what the words meant to them was that it was it was a 'day to turn down the volume of life', and that is how Sunday felt to me.  When you experience this kind of day you wish every day the rest of the season would be just like that.....78° F, gentle breezes, partly cloudy, no mosquitoes.  Would those kind of conditions every day for 6 months get a little monotonous?  Maybe, I guess that's possible, but wouldn't you like to find out?  I would....lol.

All but one golf cart was returned before 5 pm.  That one cart was rented by good friends Duke and Cindy to play 18 holes, and they didn't tee off until 2:30 pm, so I was pretty sure they would not return until after 5 pm. While TLE closed out her cash drawer I drove down to the night office to post the sites #'s available for occupancy Sunday night, but when I returned she was not yet done, so I got out my putter, and a couple of balls to practice putting.  It's amazing how one can sink those long putts when no one is watching.....lol.

By the time we returned to the bosom of the Newell it was after 5:30 pm, and by the time we ate it was well after 6 pm.....how nice that we don't have to work Monday.

The weather this coming week is turning decidedly cooler, and wetter....

.....that's a lot of rain the forecast through at least the 12th of May....there are a lot of 50° days in there....hope none of it turns into that white stuff, which shall remain nameless for now!

And thus begins our 4 day weekend....thank you for stopping by!